‘She Makes It Look Easy’: Picture Of Mom Caring For Baby At Work Goes Viral

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (CBS Local) — A picture of a mom caring for her infant daughter while fielding a phone call at her job has resonated with working mothers all over social media.

“I think a lot of people are in that same boat,” Melody Blackwell, a chiropractic assistant in Brentwood, Tennessee, told CBS affiliate WTVF. “They’re trying to make it work and there are a lot more working moms now.”

Blackwell gave birth to Nora-Jo five months ago. After a three-month maternity leave, she was allowed to bring her newborn to work with her every Monday.

“When we get here, she’s usually ready to eat so we’ll go straight back and eat,” said Blackwell. “And then she’s pretty happy for a while so she’ll just sit up front with me while I do my work. All the patients love to see her when they come in. Then I’ll usually either hold her when she sleeps or I have a carrier thing I put her in.”

For the rest of the week, Blackwell works from home.

“It makes a huge difference financially because daycare is really expensive,” she said. “And then just breastfeeding, that helps, too, because I’m actually able to breastfeed her when I’m here.”

Blackwell’s boss at Maryland Farms Chiropractic, Dr. Elizabeth Baker, decided to capture the moment and share it with the world, writing “She makes it look easy.”

“She was on the phone. She was holding the baby. She was taking some notes from the message on the phone and I just thought that’s a cute picture and posted it,” Baker said.

The image has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook. Blackwell hopes it encourages other businesses to allow this more often.

“I don’t know what I would do if my boss wasn’t as flexible as she is,” she said. “I definitely think it’s a conversation that every business should have with their working mothers.”